Elizabeth O'Shea | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/profile/elizabeth-o-shea
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We wouldn't need whistleblowers' bravery if Morrison did his job properly | Elizabeth O'Sheahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/20/we-wouldnt-need-whistleblowers-bravery-if-morrison-did-his-job-properly
<p>Without whistelblowers working in immigration centers, we would not know the devastating conditions that refugees, including children, suffer under</p><p>Scott Morrison is set to give evidence in the Australian human rights commission’s national inquiry into children in immigration detention this Friday. This is a stunning development, given the minister’s previously tight lipped approach to the department’s operations.</p><p>For people representing asylum seekers detained off shore, obtaining basic information about the workings of the centre, the availability of medical treatment and even the location of your client can be an interminable struggle. Recently, 157 Tamil asylums seekers were <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CBwQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2014%2Faug%2F03%2Ftamil-asylum-seekers-taught-pilot-lifeboats-back-india&amp;ei=W3DxU_nFItfk8AWhhoDQDg&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVBeIXnpLu5W7rkH13BxFqXRvN0w&amp;sig2=dnsoq2lg3GDirNixQ4yu9w&amp;bvm=bv.73231344,d.dGc">spirited away</a> to Nauru <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/08/asylum-my-157-clients-ordeal-highlights-scott-morrisons-hypocrisy">without the knowledge of their solicitor</a>. Notice of such movements, even if it is given, is regularly less than 24 hours, and often without any apparent logical reason. The system is chaotic and secretive. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/20/we-wouldnt-need-whistleblowers-bravery-if-morrison-did-his-job-properly">Continue reading...</a>RefugeesAustralia newsLawAustralian politicsScott MorrisonSurveillanceWed, 20 Aug 2014 04:17:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/20/we-wouldnt-need-whistleblowers-bravery-if-morrison-did-his-job-properlyPhotograph: Richard Milnes/ Richard Milnes/Demotix/CorbisProtesters hold signs outside the department of immigration and citizenship, Sydney. Photograph: Richard Milnes/Demotix/CorbisPhotograph: Richard Milnes/ Richard Milnes/Demotix/CorbisProtesters hold signs outside the department of immigration and citizenship, Sydney. Photograph: Richard Milnes/Demotix/CorbisElizabeth O'Shea2014-08-20T04:17:34ZMuckaty nuclear dump defeat is a huge victory for Aboriginal Australia | Elizabeth O'Sheahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/19/muckaty-nuclear-dump-defeat-is-a-huge-victory-for-aboriginal-australia
<p>This has been hard fought litigation, and we are proud to have given voice to the resilience and determination of our clients<br></p><p>Today, the Commonwealth Government <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/muckaty-nuclear-dump-plan-shelved-by-northern-land-council">has agreed not to act upon</a> the nomination of land at Muckaty Station as a site for Australia’s first radioactive waste dump. The resolution comes seven years after the nomination, four years after the court case was started, and two weeks into a seven week trial. The matter has settled with no admission of liability. Maurice Blackburn’s social justice practice conducted this case on a pro bono basis, and we couldn’t be prouder of the outcome or happier for our clients.</p><p>Muckaty Station, 110km north of Tennant Creek, is an Aboriginal land trust under the Aboriginal land rights act. In the 1990s, the Aboriginal land commissioner, justice Gray, was tasked with working out who were the traditional owners of that particular country and the nature of land tenure under customary law. He wrote a report and handed the land back to Aboriginal people on the basis of his findings.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/19/muckaty-nuclear-dump-defeat-is-a-huge-victory-for-aboriginal-australia">Continue reading...</a>Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous peoplesNorthern TerritoryNuclear wasteAustralia newsEnvironmentThu, 19 Jun 2014 04:40:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/19/muckaty-nuclear-dump-defeat-is-a-huge-victory-for-aboriginal-australiaPhotograph: Neda Vanovac/AAPIMAGEMilwayi elder and traditional owner Bunny Nabarula, who gave evidence about her clan's ownership of the Muckaty Station land. Photograph: Neda Vanovac/AAPPhotograph: Neda Vanovac/AAPIMAGEMilwayi elder and traditional owner Bunny Nabarula, who gave evidence about her clan's ownership of the Muckaty Station land. Photograph: Neda Vanovac/AAPPhotograph: NEDA VANOVAC/AAPIMAGEThe Stuart Highway turnoff to Muckaty Station. Photograph: Neda Vanovac/AAPPhotograph: NEDA VANOVAC/AAPIMAGEThe Stuart Highway turnoff to Muckaty Station. Photograph: Neda Vanovac/AAPElizabeth O'Shea2014-06-19T04:40:28ZAsio raids: the rule of law must be protected | Elizabeth O'Sheahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/05/asio-raids-the-rule-of-law-must-be-protected
The raid on an Australian lawyer's office, resulting in the&nbsp;usurpation of lawyer-client privilege, underlines how the&nbsp;Asio operates without accountability to the Australian public<p>This week, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio)&nbsp;and the attorney general raised the stakes in the debate about national security and civil society. Asio <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/03/timor-leste-spy-witness-held-lawyers-office-raided-asio">raided the office of lawyer Bernard Collaery</a>, apparently looking for material relating to disclosures made by a former Australian Security Intelligence Service (Asis) officer. Presumably, Asio acted because it was concerned by the national security impacts of the disclosures. The effect of this, whatever the intention, is to undermine East Timor’s case against Australia in The Hague about the Timor Sea treaty.</p><p>This interference with the proceeding in The Hague is confronting. If it was unintended, it is disappointing. If it was deliberate, it is gravely troubling. The public has a right to know which it is.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/05/asio-raids-the-rule-of-law-must-be-protected">Continue reading...</a>LawAustralia newsSurveillanceEspionageAustralian politicsAustralian intelligence agenciesThu, 05 Dec 2013 02:36:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/05/asio-raids-the-rule-of-law-must-be-protectedPhotograph: Dan Peled/AAPThe Asio website. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAPPhotograph: Dan Peled/AAPThe Asio website. (AAP Image/Dan Peled) Photograph: Dan Peled/AAPElizabeth O'Shea2013-12-05T02:36:10ZThe AFL doesn't need poker machines | Elizabeth O'Sheahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/27/afl-pokies-football
It's undeniable: pokies are harmful, and football clubs should learn to do without them. The good news is that there is a clear, simple policy alternative<p>My grandmother, at 95 years of age, is fortunate to have seen quite a few premierships during her 60 odd years as a member of the <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CDAQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hawthornfc.com.au%2F&amp;ei=S-5EUum_NYubiQe4oYHgDQ&amp;usg=AFQjCNF-lxn4jISuJOoiHfYyJ-r2Q9ZBcQ&amp;bvm=bv.53217764,d.aGc">Hawthorn Football Club</a>. She moved into her house around the same time as she joined the club, and has seen her fringe of Hawthorn transform from a street of workers’ homes to a place of affluence. She’s also watched the club transform from its days playing at the modest Glenferrie Oval to the multimillion dollar enterprise it is now. She even survived the Kennett years, quite the challenge for a rusted-on Labor voter.</p><p>We have our fingers crossed for a Hawks victory on the weekend, but there is something which tugs at my loyalty. The adversaries&nbsp;on Saturday&nbsp;are evenly matched in many ways. There is, however, one significant difference which sets these two clubs apart. Hawthorn Football Club has one of the highest rates of ownership of poker machines of any football club. Fremantle Dockers has none.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/27/afl-pokies-football">Continue reading...</a>MelbourneAFLSportGamblingAustralia newsAustralian politicsFri, 27 Sep 2013 03:55:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/27/afl-pokies-footballPhotograph: JULIAN SMITH/AAPIMAGEHawthorn Hawks supporters gather for the AFL Grand Final parade Collins Street in Melbourne. Photograph: Julian Smith/AAPPhotograph: JULIAN SMITH/AAPIMAGEHawthorn Hawks supporters gather for the AFL Grand Final parade Collins Street in Melbourne. Photograph: Julian Smith/AAPElizabeth O'Shea2013-09-27T03:55:39ZLeaving the bodies of asylum seekers in the sea is inhuman | Elizabeth O'Sheahttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/bodies-asylum-seekers-boats
Australia's leaders have reduced asylum seekers' lives to sound bites. Would this abject indifference be extended to passengers of a luxury cruise liner?<p>Around 55 asylum seekers, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/11/asylum-seekers-in-water-hazaras">believed to be Afghan Hazaras</a>, were aboard a vessel that sank near Christmas Island last week. They are now presumed dead, and if any of them actually are not, they soon will be.</p><p>The Australian government has indicated it <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/10/asylum-seekers-bodies-christmas-island">will make no further efforts</a> to retrieve the bodies of those who drowned. They will be left floating in the water, like a grotesque Keep Out sign. Our borders have become a watery graveyard of the desperate; a testimony to the heartlessness of our political leaders; an emblem of international embarrassment.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/bodies-asylum-seekers-boats">Continue reading...</a>Australia newsRace issuesImmigration and asylumJulia GillardLabor partyCoalitionRefugeesAustralian immigration and asylumTue, 11 Jun 2013 05:51:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/bodies-asylum-seekers-boatsPhotograph: Jon Faulkner/AAPIMAGEAustralian authorities assist asylum seekers who survived their vessel capsizing off Christmas Island. Photograph: Jon Faulkner/AAPIMAGEPhotograph: Jon Faulkner/AAPIMAGEAustralian authorities assist asylum seekers who survived their vessel capsizing off Christmas Island. Photograph: Jon Faulkner/AAPIMAGEElizabeth O'Shea2013-06-11T05:51:00Z